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Books on Non-Toxic Building
My Chemical-Free House: The Ultimate Guide To Building and Renovating With Non-Toxic Materials. A complete guide to selecting all materials for a non-toxic build or renovation, with a focus on the chemically sensitive. The most up-to-date book on the topic of non-toxic building materials.
Pretty Good House – Pretty Good House provides a framework and set of guidelines for building or renovating a high-performance (mold-preventative) home that focuses on the health of the inhabitants and the environment.
Courses on Healthy Building
Healthy Building Materials
Build & Renovate a Non-Toxic Home: Material Specifications
This is the first and only course of its kind, which guides you through material selections for a new build or reno.
Specifically for those with environmental sensitivities (or for those who work with folks with environmental sensitivities).
What’s in the course:
- 23 step-by-step video lessons on materials (7–19 minutes each); one for each material category, plus extra videos on what you need to know before you start, and bonus videos
- Exact brands listed out and “better / best / avoid” guidance for each category
- Advice specific to environmental sensitivities
- Tons of visuals + easy-to-understand construction terminology so you can speak with your contractor about materials
- Ask questions under each lesson about materials (short, targeted Q&A)
- Bonus lessons & downloads (mold-avoidance tips, lead prevention, printable jobsite signs, paint price tools)
- 365-day access.
Mold Preventative Building
Building a Safe Home – This is an essential course on mold-preventative building. It covers details on building mold-preventative foundations, wall systems, roofs, windows, and openings. It also covers site selection and prep. It is accessible to homeowners. It can also be shared with your builders or taken by those in the industry. Cheryl is a leader in mold prevention.
I have taken other courses on mold-preventative building, but none were as accessible as this one for those who are not in the industry.
Other courses by Cheryl were very helpful:
Finding Defects will help those looking to purchase a home and avoid defects that lead to water damage.
Found Mold? is a great intro to basic mold containment procedures during remediation. I found it really helpful right before I had a roof leak.
Building Performance
I have taken Corbett’s courses on building performance which were very fundamental to understanding the basics on how to measure errors in construction, understanding the basic forces within buildings, and proper HVAC sizing and balancing.
Building Science
Building Science Corp offers two courses taught by Joseph Lstiburek, known as the godfather of building science. Almost all other experts reference Lstiburek’s work. I have taken the rehab one and it was great.
Christine Williamson (the daughter of Lstiburek) is an architect who offers a course called Building Science for Architects.
If you want to see an honest review of all the courses I have taken see this Substack article.
Building Science Experts
Cheryl Ciecko – Architect who specializes in mold preventative and low VOC design. Her course Buiding a Safe Home is a fundamental base for anyone building.
Steve Baczek – Highly skilled, highly detailed architect doing mold-preventative designs. Boston area and available for consults. You can watch his building science videos on the Build Show Network.
Greg Weatherman – Remediation and mold testing expert.
Carl Grimes – Mold testing and remediation expert. (Not many days that he can do one-on-one consulting).
Michael Maines – Passive House Designer, Engineer, Building Science expert. Mold preventative designs for climate zones 5 & 6 (only).
Travis Brungardt is co-owner of Catalyst Construction in Prairie Village, Kansas specializing in building durable, responsible homes and additions throughout the Kansas City area.
Corbett Lunsford – Consultant on home performance, including HVAC sizing, balancing and testing.
Christine Williamson – Architect, a top building science expert, consultant on new builds and large projects where failures have occurred. You can follow her on IG here.
Chris Briley – Architect, Building Science Expert, Passive House Design.
High-Quality Builders / Contractors
Rebuild Studio – A builder who comes highly recommended in Minnesota by Terran.
Travis Brungardt – High-performance builder based out of Kansas.
Kolbert Building, in Portland, Maine.
Matt Risinger is an example of a high-quality, high-integrity, detail-oriented builder. I’ve seen a number of really high-quality builders through Matt’s YouTube channel The Build Show, like WKP Construction in Rhode Island and Brian Long in Texas. You get to see a site tour and hear them talk about building details which is helpful when choosing a builder.
Koen Van Loo – High-end contractor with old-world, old-school skills in plaster, natural paint, natural floor, and stone finishes.
This post goes into why I don’t recommend any specific builders other than the ones mentioned on this page.
MCS and Mold Safe Accommodation
I have an article on housing for the chemically sensitive.
I also have one on finding safe hotels.
My post on Emergency Housing provides some DIY emergency shelter ideas.
If you want to see me walk through how to find safe housing for the chemically sensitive (break the cycle of homelessness) and where I lived with a total budget of $1000 or $2000 a month, see my Substack.
Safe Beauty and Cleaning Products
I have a post on cleaning products and one on personal care products.
Treatment
Toxic, Heal Your Body – and other books by Neil Nathan, MD, are very popular.
Full list of doctors who treat mold illness.
The HTMA test, analyzed by an expert, is one of the most important tests for those with environmental illness.
Gupta Treatment Program – This addresses the underlying cause. I know so many people who have recovered from ‘brain retraining’. I am fully recovered from MCS and long Covid, and halfway better from CFS due to this program.
See my review of Gupta vs DNRS vs Restore as well as everything that is in a brain retraining program, including the “rounds” and meditations that I do daily.
Therapists Who Understand Environmental Illness
I have a list of 19 therapists who understand environmental illness.